March Wrap Up

Hello!

Well March has proven to be a strange month and I imagine April will also be strange but if will all stay home and stay safe hopefully everything will be ok.

Being as I am currently not working I have been busy essay writing but also reading, practising my different instruments and doing jigsaws. Two essays are due on Thursday so hopefully they will be ok. I have been managing to read more which is nice.

Books I have read in March (if you click on the picture it will take you to the review)

Star Trek Discovery: The Enterprise War by John Jackson Miller

Andromache, Hecuba, Trojan Women by Euripides

Trojan Women by Seneca

Star Trek Discovery: Dead Endless by Dave Galanter (review to follow)

Again only a few books but they did include more pages than last month’s books.

Please drop me a comment if you have read any of these books.

Stay safe everyone.

Book Club

Hello!

I hope this post finds everyone safe and well.

So, since Monday we have been on lockdown but before this my husband and myself started self shielding from Wednesday last week as my health is not great, so other than going out for a walk each day and checking on our parents we have been at home. This has meant lots more reading, studying, music and just generally wondering what to do next. I have now started to write a daily To-do list!

However, before the self shielding a local independent bookshop that set up in the town where my sister lives announced they were planning on starting a Book Club. I was very excited about this because I’ve always wanted to join a Book Club but because of work etc I’ve never found one that I can actually get to. This Book Club was going to be on my day off though, so I was planning on joining. Then things got put on hold due to the present circumstances we all find ourselves in. However, I am pleased to announce the book shop has decided to set the Book Club up on Facebook and have accepted my request to join.

This wonderful book shop is called Wyre Forest Books which is in Bewdley, and I was so excited when it opened as some of my fondest memories as a child were visiting an independent book shop called Bewdley Books and sometimes following our visit with a visit to a little sweet shop, what could be better than books and sweets? So I made sure I visited the new book shop as soon as I could. Now I am very worried about this book shop and all independent book shops during this difficult time and want to do my part in keeping them going. However, I am also not currently working and as I am self employed not earning so fund wise I don’t really have many pennies to spare and have decided that if I want to buy a book I will use whatever Waterstones points I have. But to support Wyre Forest Books today I gave them a ring and ordered the first club book read and I plan on ordering all future Book Club reads from there, funds allowing.

So what is the book?

The book is Half a World Away by Mike Gayle

Strangers living worlds apart.
Strangers with nothing in common.

But it wasn’t always that way…

Kerry Hayes is single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past.

Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a child, Noah always looks forward, never back.

When Kerry reaches out to the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will have life-changing consequences for them both.

Mike Gayle was meant to be visiting Wyre Forest Books but has sadly had to cancel due to present circumstances but is planning to visit when hopefully normality returns. Hopefully I might get my copy signed!

So that is my exciting news! I will keep you updated about my Book Club adventures.

Here is the Facebook link to my little book shop Wyre Forest Books

My final word today though is support your local book shop if you can, let’s help keep them going so we have a wonderful shop to visit when all this is over and not another closed book shop never to return again. Order a book over the phone or online, buy a book voucher, anything to keep them going, and if you can’t support them financially give them a like and share on social media and show them some love. Thank you my fellow Book Dragons!

Please drop me a comment for a chat!

Stay safe everyone.

Happy Reading

WWW Wednesday- 25/03/2020

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and a share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I hope everyone is well and getting lots of reading done whilst we are all at home. I myself have managed to get a bit more reading done recently. So here is my WWW Wednesday…

What I am currently reading

Just the one book at the moment but I am dipping into several poetry books. I was planning on reading another book before this but I changed my mind.

What I recently finished reading

Two of the books I read for my course and I will admit I loved the Euripides! I finally finished The Enterprise War which has taken me forever and to be honest I am glad that is over as it just dragged so much.

What I will read next

I will put these two on the list but who knows as I do tend to change my mind. I had planned to read The Lantern Men next but decided to stick with Star Trek so we will wait and see what happens when I finish my current read.

So that is my WWW Wednesday! Please drop me a comment with the link to your WWW Wednesday or let me know your thoughts on my chosen reads or both.

Stay safe my fellow book dragons.

Star Trek Discovery: The Enterprise War (Review)

Star Trek Discovery: The Enterprise War by John Jackson Miller

About the author

John Jackson Miller is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Star Trek: Prey trilogy (Hell’s Heart, The Jackal’s Trick, The Hall of Heroes) and the novels Star Trek: The Next Generation: Takedown; Star Wars: A New Dawn; Star Wars: Kenobi Star Wars: Knight Errant; Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith-The Collected Stories; and fifteen Star Wars graphic novels, as well as the original work Overdraft: The Orion Offensive. He has also written the eNovella Star Trek: Titan: Absent Enemies. A comics industry historian and analyst, he has written for franchises including Halo, Conan, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect, and The Simpsons. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife, two children, and far too many comic books.

Blurb

Hearing of the outbreak of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike attempts to bring the U.S.S. Enterprise home to join in the fight. But in the hellish nebula known as the Pergamum, the stalwart commander instead finds an epic battle of his own, pitting ancient enemies against one another – with not just the Enterprise but also her crew as the spoils of war.

Lost and out of contact with Earth for an entire year, Pike and his trusted first officer, Number One, struggle to find and reunite the ship’s crew – all while Science Officer Spock confronts a mystery that puts even his exceptional skills to the test… with more than their own survival possibly riding on the outcome…

Review

I will be honest I struggled with this book, the first half just dragged but thankfully the second half improved otherwise I’m not sure I would have lasted. The book just felt like it had a load of irrelevant scenes that did nothing to add to the storyline and the book could have been a lot shorter in my opinion.

I did enjoy the storyline of the two battling alien races and the Enterprise stuck in the middle of the war. My favourite character in the book wasn’t actually a member of the Enterprise but one of aliens called Baladon. I really enjoyed his humour and the way he adapted into the way of life of his kidnappers, it was like he had never found anywhere where he truly belonged and he had finally found that place even if it was in a war zone. I also liked the character of Connolly and the friendship between him and Baladon, their interactions were very funny.

Sadly, I did not like Una i.e Number One and just struggled with her character and I found Christopher Pike a little bit dull. They just both seemed to be lacking for me. I did enjoy the character of Spock and found that his experience made a lot of sense with the TV series and I was pleased to see it all linking together and I did feel really sorry for poor Spock and the suffering he was going through.

Out of all the Discovery books so far I found this one my least favourite and I really hope the next one is better as I have loved the series so far. If this book had been shorter I think I would have enjoyed it more so I have given this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

Purchase Links

Amazon

Book Depository

Waterstones

A P. G. Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! by P. G. Wodehouse (Review)

A P. G. Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! Goodbye to All Cats by P. G. Wodehouse

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse wrote more than ninety novels and some three hundred short stories over 73 years. He is widely recognised as the greatest 20th- century writer of humour in the English Language. In 1936 he awarded the Mark Twain Prize for ‘having made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world’. He was made a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in 1939 and in 1975, aged 93, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He died shortly afterwards, on St Valentine’s Day.

Blurb

A Wodehouse pick-me-up that’ll lift your spirits, whatever your mood.

Review

I picked up this book when I was last in Bath. I picked it up at the counter. I must admit a lot of bookshops tend to sell me an extra book at the counter.

This is a very quick read but a very fun read that contains three short stories.

Goodbye to All Cats

This story is the first in the book and I must admit my favourite and made me laugh out loud a lot! This story is all about Freddie’s experience with cats that made him dislike all cats in general for the foreseeable future.

The story is hilarious but at the same time I did feel sorry for Freddie who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Ukridge’s Dog College

I was surprised by this story as I had just presumed all the stories would be cat related. I was so pleased to see this assumption was wrong because I love dog stories. This story focuses on the eccentric Ukridge, who will do anything to make a quick fortune that doesn’t involve hard work. A fantastic little read for dog lovers.

Ukridge’s Accident Syndicate

This is an interesting story but for me lacked the humour of the other two stories. I just found the story dragged a little. The basic concept is a group of friends who pool all their money to buy insurance for their friend and wait for the friend to have an accident. Oh and it does involve a dog, which is always good.

All in all I loved the book and think I will purchase the other three books in the series as they are quick fun reads that you can read in one sitting or one story a day. I highly recommend the book especially for animal lovers and anybody who just wants to read a light hearted fun book. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons! Pan loves the book as well.

Purchase Links

Book Depository

Waterstones

WWW Wednesday 11/03/2020

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and a share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I haven’t done one of these for ages, mainly because my reading has been so pitiful but I am slowly reading more and getting back into it again. Fingers crossed it continues, but I doubt I will read as much as I did last year.

What I am currently reading

I have been reading the Star Trek Discovery books and really enjoying them, this is my light reading. The Euripides plays are my homework for my course but I love reading them. I must admit I am becoming quite a fan of Greek Tragedy.

What I finished reading recently.

Two tiny books but at least I have finished them! I loved them both!

What I will read next

I love Elly Griffiths and have been desperate to read this, so this will definitely be next.

So here is my latest WWW Wednesday. Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday in and your thoughts on my books.

February Wrap Up

I must admit I was in two minds whether to even bother with a wrap up after February as I have read barely anything. I have read loads of chapters and journal articles for my course but no real fun books.

However, I have read a few books so I thought I would make a wrap up.

Emma by Jane Austen

Star Trek Cats by Jenny Parks

Star Trek The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks

A Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up! Goodbye to All Cats by P. G. Wodehouse

As you can see a few books read. Hopefully I will do better in March.

Please drop me a comment if you have any thoughts you would like to share about the books.

Happy reading!

Waterstones Challenge: Norwich

Hello!

It has been ages since I have visited a new Waterstones and ticked another store off my list but finally I have managed one. This week has been half term so I visited my best friend and her husband and their new little boy who is currently 9 weeks old and extremely cute. This meant I had the opportunity to take the little Book Dragon to his first bookshop and buy him a nice book. He slept through the whole experience but I bought him a book and his parents also bought him some books. A very lucky little Dragon!

The book I chose to buy was Winnie the Pooh! I have a beautiful book of Winnie the Pooh that a work colleague of my mom’s bought me when I was little and she told my mom that no child should be without a copy of Winnie the Pooh so I followed her advice.

I did also treat myself to a book that has been on my wish list for quite some time. I also bought a Waterstones bag that I really liked the look of.

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

I really liked the Waterstones in Norwich. It was very nice and the cafe was excellent, one of the best soya hot chocolates I have ever tasted.

Well worth a visit for all Book Dragons.

The photo outside the store features my best friend who you will have spotted in another Waterstones picture and her husband and their little Book Dragon in his pram. Sadly it was raining at the time. Massive thank you to Lord Book Dragon for taking the picture.

To see the list so far of my Waterstones visits please click here

New Books 18/02/2020

I have bought my first fun books for 2020! I have bought a lot of books this year but they have all been for my Masters, but I have given in and treated myself a little.

Star Trek Picard: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack

I am so excited about this book even if to be honest the TV series is painfully slow and in certain places annoying beyond belief. This book is written by Una McCormack and her previous Star Trek novels are just amazing so I am looking forward to her take on the new series.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Cats by Jenny Parks

This one I could not resist, I bought the first one in the series for my husband as he loves Star Trek and cats and after reading it I immediately bought the second one.

So only two books as I am trying to be well behaved this year as I have so many books to read already and I know I won’t get to read many non study related books.

Happy reading

Book Trolley

Hello!

Yesterday was an interesting day. The weather led to flooding so I couldn’t get to work in the morning so I had the whole day free. I felt a little lost to be honest but I got loads of washing done, some clarinet practice, studying and I built my book trolley!

I’ve seen so many book trollies on social media lately and I gave in and got one for myself. This now means my TBR is not on the bedroom floor but neatly in the trolley. Also the wheels are brilliant, it means I can roll the trolley around to vacuum under it.

So here is the wonderful trolley.

I’m now hoping my husband will also get one so we can both have our TBR piles neat and tidy.

Please let me know if you have a book trolley and what you use it for? I would love to hear what books you use it for.

Happy Reading!